Second Chance

Something funny happened after I lost 77 lbs. I found the courage to take a second chance on love.
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Ed and Mary at breakfast the morning after their wedding

It’s amazing what can happen when you feel good about yourself. I met a wonderful man on April Fools Day and, after a whirlwind romance, I married my sweet Ed on May 21st.

Mr. and Mrs. outside the courthouse

Now, after neglecting this blog (for the best of reasons) these past four months, I’m back to update my hCG news and confess my dietary sins! (Get comfortable, because my sins are many!)

On the day I met Ed, I weighed 166 lbs. I looked good. I felt great. I never wanted to go back to my old, tired, uncomfortable, self-conscious, overweight self. In fact, throughout our courtship and the first weeks of our marriage, I continued the diet and the hCG drops. I fully expected to continue losing weight, perhaps another 10 or 15 pounds by the end of summer.

On the day Ed and Mary met

It didn’t quite work out the way I’d planned, though. I knew we would be traveling a lot during the summer for various reasons, but I wasn’t prepared for how difficult it would be to eat right while on the road, to stay organized enough to plan hCG-friendly meals away from home, or to face down the multitude of temptations before us.

For starters, 4 days after the wedding Ed had to return to his home in Wyoming to take care of some unfinished business. I joined him there 4 days after he left, and we spent 17 days in Cheyenne moving Ed out of his apartment and tying up other loose ends.

At first, Ed joined me on the hCG diet and actually lost 15 lbs in just 3 days! However, being newlyweds in a celebratory mood made it hard to resist going out to some of Ed’s favorite restaurants in Cheyenne. After “blowing it” several times during the first week, we agreed to focus on maintaining our current weight loss until we were done traveling. We quit the hCG and returned to our usual low-carb way of life. (When we met, Ed had already lost about 75 lbs by following Dr. Atkins’s diet.)

Unfortunately, we weren’t entirely successful in sticking to the low-carb plan, either. We spent the rest of June driving back and forth between Arizona and Wyoming, hauling Ed’s belongings to their new home here in the White Mountains. We quickly discovered how hard it is to stick to any diet while making that 12-hour drive multiple times, passing every fast food restaurant known to mankind!

The honeymooners after boarding the Sapphire Princess in Seattle, WA
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The diet disaster didn’t end there. Once we had Ed all moved to Arizona, we caught a flight to Seattle and took a weeklong honeymoon cruise to Alaska. You know all those stereotypes regarding the abundance of food on cruise ships? They are NOT an exaggeration.  It truly was like a floating smorgasbord! 

Mary strikes a swashbuckling pose on deck.

When we boarded the ship, it wasn’t too bad. I had gained back less than 10 lbs and figured I could hold the line there. Alas, it was not to be.

Mary stays warm in her jacket while relaxing on deck.

I actually did a pretty good job of limiting how much I ate, but the food choices included so many delicious high-carb selections that I weakened rapidly. I tried to focus on proteins and nutrient-dense vegetables, but I also enjoyed dishes containing the white flour, rice, potatoes, and sugar my metabolism can no longer support.

Mary in the cruise ship's buffet dining room during breakfast

We followed up the cruise with 4 days in Portland, Oregon, where Ed lived from 1999 to 2007. I met his friends, visited his old stomping grounds, and—you guessed it—dined in his old favorite restaurants. By the time we returned home, we’d both regained about 20 lbs (Ed insists it was closer to 30 lbs for him).

After a day spent driving the beautiful Oregon coast, Mary and Ed enjoy ice cream cones in Tillamook, OR. 

Finally, just 2 days after returning from our honeymoon, Ed and I packed up the kids and headed to Estes Park, Colorado, for the family vacation I had planned a full 8 months before I knew Ed even existed. For 11 days we traveled, we explored, we shopped, we visited Cheyenne (a 90-minute drive from Estes Park), and, of course, we ate out occasionally and indulged in the local shops' sweets, like fudge and root beer floats.

A morning horseback ride with the family in Estes Park, CO: Ed, Mary, Sarah, and Dylan.

The morning after we returned from Colorado, I gasped when I stepped on the scale. In just 2 months I had gone from 166.2 lbs to 200.2 lbs! That’s a gain of 34 lbs! Some of it was travel bloat, of course, and I lost 7 lbs in the next two days, which I never gained back. Still, it was disappointing to know I’d have to re-lose 27 lbs to get back to my happy-weight place!

Several days after we returned from Estes Park, I went back on hCG and quickly got my weight down to 188.6 lbs. Two weeks later Ed returned to Wyoming to join his Boy Scout troop at Scout Camp, an event for which he (as assistant Scoutmaster) had helped them prepare all year. I was happy to have him complete this commitment, but as the days dragged on I found myself missing him and making only a half-hearted attempt to stay within 500 daily calories. By the time he returned after a 17-day absence, I’d given up altogether and regained the few pounds I had lost.

On the plus side, my weight did stabilize in the low-190s, meaning I remained at least 50 lbs lighter than when I began the hCG diet almost 11 months ago. I call that a success!

Ed wanted to give the hCG diet another try (remember, he’d lost 15 lbs in 3 days on his first effort), so we decided to take the plunge together and make it work this time. To ensure success, though, we had to time it right.

Ed and Mary enjoy a romantic birthday dinner at The Pasta House.

As luck would have it, Ed and I share the same birth date, September 1st. We knew that would mean an evening out for dinner and dessert, followed by cake and ice cream at home. When we got married, we had also decided to commemorate our joint birthdays with something special on Labor Day weekend, since our birthdays will always fall on or just before Labor Day. This year we had an overnight getaway to a local resort and went out to eat for both dinner and breakfast. No sense starting a diet before these events!

Now, though, we are back on track. We started the hCG drops on Labor Day and completed our two days of loading, or “gorging,” on fatty foods. Then on Wednesday, Sept. 8th, we started the 500 calorie-per-day diet.

I got a second chance at love, and now I'm taking a second chance on weight loss and better health.  In just 3 days we’ve already had great results. But that’s a story for another day…